KATHMANDU: The Government of Nepal and other eight Development Partners have signed a Joint Financing Agreement to formalise the cooperation in the implementation of School Sector Development Plan.

In a statement today, development partners said SSDP is a 7-year sector plan, initiated in July 2016 for a 5-year implementation program with the objective of supporting Nepal's ambition to graduate from the status of Least Developed Nation by 2023 by ensuring its citizens' access to quality education.

The total cost of the SSDP has been estimated around US$ 6.4 billion, it said in the statement.

The meeting was organised by the Minister for Education Gopal Man Shrestha including EU ambassador Rensje Teerink and other representatives of development partners today.

"We will strongly stay engaged as an active partner and will continue to extend our support to the government and our dear friends from UNICEF and Norway as new education co-focal points," Teerink said while thanking other partners in Nepal's education development effort.

Education Minister Gopal Man Shrestha thanked all the development partners for the strong support to the sector over the past years and in the conception of the new education sector plan.

He further said the partnership would go beyond the SSDP timeline to ensure Nepal will meet its commitment to the citizens made with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The development partners have committed almost US$485 million to support implementation of SSDP.

It also further said that they would extend their support through non-budget support and technical assistance as well, as stated in the statement.